Blue eyes
by abstract0118
Summary: Clint was back to normal and living in the Avengers Tower with Natasha and the others, but did they all expect him to be taken over...again? What will they do when they are faced with no option, but to kill? All characters owned by MARVEL.
1. Chapter 1

"If it's alright with you, I think I'll have that drink now."

Hulk growled and Clint kept his bow strong. Rogers attached handcuffs to Loki. He is gonna suffer for what he's done. A couple of S.H.I.E.L.D agents came up, I recognised them as Level 5, and took Loki away.

"Right, shawarma." Stark announced moving towards the door with the others. Clint had put his arrow back in his quiver and his bow was by his side, but he was still in the same position just looking at where the demigod had been.

"Clint, are you coming?" Steve asked. He remained to look at the floor. I came around to his left and delicately placed my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Clint?" I whispered and he snapped his head around, looking straight at me.

"Yeah?" he asked quietly.

"Are...you coming?"

He looked confused. "To what?"

My eyes glanced up to the others, who were looking a bit worried at Clint's reaction, and then back to Clint. "Shawarma." I said, answering his question.

He nodded and forced a sarcastic grin onto his face. I knew that he was hiding his real emotions, but I couldn't say much. I always knew when he was lying or trying to cover something up. I will bring it up later. "Yeah, course. You're kidding right? Never had shawarma." he replied and went into the lift with the others. They didn't say anything to him, but their eyes were filled with sympathy form him. Even Stark.

Clint has lost Coulson along with part of his own mind. Derren Brown Bullshit.

"We're closed." the waitress said. We piled in and she was sweeping up the shop with her back to us, not realising that it was the Avengers.

"We want shawarma." Tony stated.

"Have you not been here to see what's happened?" she said, her back still facing away from us. "I said we're-" She stopped when she turned around and saw who we were. She stood there wither her mouth wide open and her broom now on the floor.

Stark handed the girl a cheque with a considerable amount of zeros on and said "For repairs. Now shawarma?" as if it were normal.

The waitress' eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the cheque and the looked up at us. "Sure." she said simply, completely spaced out, and turned around to tell the chefs to start cooking.

We sat down at the table and Stark said "So...recovery at mine for a few days?"

Steve looked at him. "Don't see why not."

"Rage man?"

"Mmm...I'm not sure that would work out so well."

"Oh come on." As they debated about whether Banner was staying or not, I noticed that Barton wasn't engaging in any way. He was looking down at the floor, eyes slopped and his hands hanging aimlessly by his sides.

I tapped his foot with my shoe and he looked up at me. _You okay?_ I mouthed to him.

He just nodded and then turned his head back to the ground. He got up, probably to leave, but immediately grabbed the table for support. He groaned in pain and I went to help him.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked him. All the Avengers had gotten up, just out of their seats, apart from Tony of course, who didn't worry about anything.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Clint said, squinting slightly.

"Bullshit." I said, pushing him back down on the chair and lifting his left leg up to put it on my chair. I could already see the relief in his eyes. He didn't thank me. And I knew the reason why was because he wanted to get away from here. I could imagine him going up to the rooftop like he does on so many other missions. He just sits there, staring up at the sky, thinking. What about? I don't know. I tried it once with him. I didn't work.

"So you two. Staying or going back to the flying fortress?" Stark asked.

I looked over at Clint who just seemed to be looking down at the table. I nudged him and he looked up.

"What?" he asked, obviously not listening to the question Stark just asked.

"Khotite, chtoby poyti i zhit's nimi?" _Want to go and live with them?_ I asked in Russian.

"Vy sobirayetes'?" _Are you going?_

"Ne bez tebya." _Not without you._

"No vy khotite , chtoby ?" _But do you want to?_

 _"Ya_ ne vizhu , kakoy vred on mozhet sdelat' , yesli my sdelali." _I don't see what harm it would do if we did._

"Khorosho" _Okay._

I turned round to look at the others, who had confused expressions on their faces, and replied "We're in."

From then on we ate out shawarma in silence, just over-viewing in our heads what had happened. Clint tried to kill me. He would never do that in his right mind. The thought kept replaying in my head. Imagine if I didn't stop him.

After shawarma, we went back to Starks place in some smart Audi's that were waiting outside the shop. We all had individual cars. Personalized to us. Mine being classic red. Obviously. He didn't need to buy us anything. He knew that. He just likes showing off.

I noticed that in the car was a video calling system, to call the other avengers on.

I clicked the square that said _Contacts_

Five icons came up:

 _Capsicle_

 _Rage monster_

 _Shakespeare_

 _Billion_

 _Lover boy_

You've got to be kidding. "Are you serious?" I said outloud.

I clicked on 'lover boy'. The video call rang out a bit before it came up saying _Call declined._

I wasn't really surprised with Clint. He lost one of his best friends. Coulson. I say that he is his best friend, because I don't really count. Yeah, he was stuck with me all those years ago to be his partners, but that doesn't mean that he wanted me to be that. I spend the most amount of time with him out of everyone, but I don't think he likes me that much. Not in the way I want him to anyway.

We got to the front doors of the tower, which opened and the floor sunk into the ground, revealing a secret garage underneath the building. He's been expecting us then.

I drove my car into the spot that said _Widow_ and stepped out. The guys were already out of their cars and heading towards the lift. I caught up with Clint who had dried blood on his hands.

I looked into his eyes, trying to find some kind of peace with the world, but I saw nothing. Not anger. Nor vengeance. Nor forgiveness. Nothing.

I grabbed his arm, but he just shrugged me off. I got the message.

We got into the lift and whilst Tony babbled on about cars to a confused Thor and Steve, I looked at Clint, who now had his hands clenched into fists by his sides.

I glided my arm down his and put it around his hand. He seemed to relax for a moment, his fingers opening slightly, but then he shook his head and pulled his hand away from me.

He's never left me out of the loop. About anything. I knew this was about what Loki did, but I thought that he would at least talk to me about it. Then again, Clint has always been a stubborn bastard.

The lift doors opened and Stark led us out of the lift to go and look at the bedrooms of where we would be staying. I walked out with them, but turned back to look at Clint. The lift was shutting, slowly concealing his face.

"CLINT!" I shouted, but it was too late. The lift doors were already shut. "JARVIS, where is he going?" I asked, desperation filling my voice.

"The rooftop, Miss Romanoff." I turned to Stark.

"Stairs. Where?" I said desperately. He quickly pointed to a door next to the lift and said "Keep going until you reach the top." Before he even finished his sentence, I was out the door and running up the stairs frantically, jumping four at a time.

Why is he going to the rooftop? Please don't be too late. Please. I ran so fast that I couldn't feel my legs anymore.

I burst the door open and shouted "CLINT!" seeing that he was near the edge of the building.


	2. Chapter 2

I was frozen. He just jumped off the frickin' building. How am I going to live without him? He is basically everything I have! I never told him...told him how I felt about him. I can't even tell whether it's love or not, but there is definitely something there. But it was too late.

"CLINT!" I screamed again, regaining my senses and running over to the edge of the building, which he disappeared over.

Nothing. There was nothing. He was gone and I was alone. How could he do this to me? Leave me here with people that I don't even fully trust yet? Tears were filling my eyes and I heard something behind me.

I turned around and saw Stark there with Clint in his mechanical arms. Is he dead?

I sprinted over and took Clint into my arms, dropping to the floor as I did and put his head in my lap. My fingers touched his face and checked for a pulse. Thank goodness, there was one. I stroked his hair and he opened his eyes, which were already filled with tears.

"What happened?" I asked looking up at Stark.

"I caught him before he fell. Idiot."

"Don't call him an idiot, dickhead." I replied and then looked back at Clint. "What's wrong with you? Why did you do that?"

"I...I didn't want to hurt you..anymore...than I have." he whispered, weakly. The other Avengers came through the door and surrounded us.

"Look," I said, stroking his cheek. "you haven't hurt me. It was Loki. You need to get some rest Clint." I felt something flutter in my chest when his hand came up around the hand that was on my face. I ignored it and then moved my hands, so I could lift him up to a standing position.

The others help take him in and place him on the sofa of the living room. "You guys okay on your own?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, we'll be fine. He probably won't move from here, so we'll just see you guys tomorrow." I said and then the others said goodnight.

I sat down next to Clint, who had his eyes open, tear wrecked, staring at the wall opposite. "Clint, please. I hate seeing you like this."

"I can't shake off the feeling that he's going to come back." he said quietly, his eyes still unmoving.

"Please look at me." I pleaded, but he didn't move. "Please." I begged again, but nothing changed. I placed my hands on either side of his face and forced him to face me. "Please come back to me." I said, a tear coming down my face as well. "I miss you."

He looked up at me, bringing his hand to my face, and wiped away the tear crawling it's way to my lips. His thumb brushed against my lip and I kissed it. He obviously noticed that I did, because he brought his hand up to my cheek and stroked the side of my face. I can't believe I'm doing this.

I nestled into his hand and kissed his wrist lightly. "What's happened to my Hawk?" I whispered against his wrist and kissed it again.

"He's been in his nest for a while." he said, a smile faintly crossing his features.

"There's the Clint I know." I said smiling. "We should rest. It's been a long day."

"We staying here?"

"Yeah, I don't want to summon the energy to be excited about the new room just yet." I replied and laid down next to him. He brought his knees up against the back of mine and we were spooning. I know. The Black Widow spooning really isn't something you see everyday.

I could feel his warm breathe grazing the back of my neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist, my hands going on top of his keeping them there. I felt his head come up to the side of mine and he placed little hot kisses against my shoulder, leading up to my neck. The feeling sent shivers down my spine and I turned around to face him.

Our faces were extremely close now. I could see the wavy lines on the iris of his eyes and I looked down at his lips before putting my hands up around his neck. His arms tightened on my waist and pulled me closer to him.

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his. I could feel his breath on my lips now, fast and laboured. I leant forward slightly and our lips touched. Softly, but meaningful all the same. I came back and looked into his eyes, making sure that he wanted this too. I could see his pupils dilate and almost hear his heart beating just as fast as mine in his chest.

I pushed his lips against mine again, savouring the taste of him. I tugged against his bottom lip and then kissed along his chiseled jaw line. How come I waited this long to do this? I kissed across his neck and back up to his lips again. He rolled us over, so he was on top of me, and he kissed my neck this time, causing me to moan and buck up against him. He smiled against my neck and then kissed across the top of my head, my eyes, my cheeks, until finally coming back to my lips.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and forced him down against me, but he pulled back, breathingly heavily.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, just as breathless.

"I...I can't do this. Not yet. Not after what Loki did to me." he said, with regretful eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll stop." he said getting up, but I caught his arm.

"No, no. Wait" I said, pulling him to sit next to me. "I don't care. I'll wait until you're ready. I understand." I kissed him cheek and stroked it. "I get it."

He smiled and apologised. "I'm sorry Nat."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Clint. I need you like the air I need to breathe. Without you, I'm breathless. Well actually with you I'm breathless as well, but..." I said and he laughed. "Come on, let go to sleep."

We both laid back down next to each other, but instead of spooning, we looked into each others eyes.

"We're meant to be sleeping." I said smiling, after 10 minutes of looking into each others eyes.

"You're very distracting." he replied.

"Likewise." I said and kissed him on the lips. "I can't believe we didn't do this before."

"I know. It feels so good being with you." he said, but then his face dropped. "Oh no."

"What?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Fraternization rule."

"We'll work something out. Even if we have to keep everything a secret or even kill Fury, then we will work something out. Okay?"

He nodded and put his forehead against mine. "We really do need to go to sleep though." he said.

"Okay...well I can't look at you, because I'll stay awake." I said and then kissed him once more. "Night Hawk."

"Night Nat." he replied, smiling, and I turned around. His hands were pressed against my hips and soon enough, I shut my eyes, drifting into a deep comfortable sleep.

 **It's all going well for them...so far. :) Please review! xx**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up feeling warmer than usual and I felt something move against my back. Turning my head around, I saw one beautiful Clint Barton fast asleep, looking more peaceful than ever. I turned around and kissed him on the lips. I felt him wake up and then kiss me back. I put my hand up against his cheek and stroked his soft skin. He pulled back and opened his eyes to look at me. He caressed my cheek and whispered "Morning beautiful."

We kissed again before I replied "Good morning Barton."

He winced. "Going back to last names already?"

"What would you prefer me to call you? Clint's too harsh."

"What about..." He smiled. "baby?"

"No." I said firmly, with a straight face. "That is not happening."

"Alright, alright, how about Hawk?"

"Hmm...maybe?"

"Sexy hawk?"

"Clint!" I warned, smiling.

"Sexy hawk with arrows?"

I smiled into a kiss, just to shut him up. He moaned and opened his mouth wider, allowing me to wrap my tongue around his. However, after a couple of seconds of deep passionate kissing, we were interrupted by someone coughing. We pulled back immediately and saw all the Avengers standing there.

"Mornin'." Stark said with the biggest grin out of everyone. Steve was looking a bit embarrassed, Pepper, Thor, Bruce and Hill were smiling.

"Don't tell Fury." I said threateningly to Maria, still not removing my hands from Clint's cheek.

"Are you kidding? I have been waiting years for this." she said happily.

"Seriously?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, Coulson owes me money. We had bets about when you two were going to get together."

"How did I not hear about this? I always listen into your conversations."

"Oh we know, but we make sure that you two are together when we do have them." she said, looking pleased with herself. "Just to warn you, Fury is coming later though, so you might want to smarten up before he gets here."

"Right." I replied and pulled away from Clint, but he pulled me back down onto him. I snuggled against him and ordered to the others without looking at them "Leave us in peace please."

"Hey, it's my tower." Stark complained, but was already being dragged off by Pepper.

I sighed and pushed myself closer to Clint, as close as I could get anyway. He kissed from my shoulder, up my neck, to my cheek, where he placed a long loving kiss.

"What are we going to do about Fury?" I asked Clint.

"Well, we could always threaten to send him to Asgard if he disagrees with our terms."

"Our terms? We doing a powerpoint presentation for him?"

"He does like efficient agents. Maybe he would be impressed by that?"

I chuckled slightly and then asked "Are you going to see him today?"

"Who? Fury? Here's coming here remember."

"You know who I mean Clint. I can tell you want to beat the shit out of him."

"Loki." I said, spinning around to face him quickly and he refused to meet my eyes. I pushed his face up to force his eyeline to meet mine. "I know you want to beat the shit out of him, but please don't talk to him. It won't make you any better."

"I still have spare arrows." he said, relating to yesterday. _Putting an arrow through Loki's eye-socket would make me sleep better, I guess._

"Please. Thor's taking him back to Asgard for fair punishment. Please. For me?"

Clint looked down at the sofa cushion and then back up at me. "For you," he said and kissed my hand. "anything."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Then he kissed me softly. "Do you want some pancakes?"

"You're the best." I replied and smiled, getting off the sofa.

I pulled him off and we went into the kitchen. "So Blackhawk, I'm having an omelette. Want one?"

"Blackhawk?" Clint asked.

"Ship name. Duh. Anyway, omelette? Want any? Simple question."

"Me and Tash are having pancakes."

"Well, I'm not making them for you." Tony said, throwing his hands up and sitting at the table.

"And who's making you're omelette?" I asked.

"Who do you think?" Pepper said from the cooker. She looked at me, came up and hugged me. I wouldn't usually, but I accepted the hug.

"It's good to see you." I said.

She pulled away from me and replied "Good to see you too." She then went back to cooking the meal, but I continued to talk to her.

"So, when did you come back."

"This morning, just before you came up."

"Did you give him hell?"

"Who? Tony? I slapped him round the face if that counts?"

"It does."

"Yeah, and it still hurts." Stark interjected, rubbing the side of his face.

"Don't complain or I won't give you breakfast metal man." she said, smiling, and Stark seemed to shut up. Clint kissed me on the cheek and then went to cook breakfast next to Pepper. They began they're own conversation as I sat down with everyone else.

"Did you say that James Rhodes is coming up here later?" Steve asked, sitting next to Maria.

"Yes, I did. He's coming to talk strategy with Tony." Maria explained.

"Is he?" Stark asked. "I have no recollection of this."

"I told you this morning." Pepper said, annoyed.

"Well, you obviously didn't tell me loud enough."

"You said 'That's fine'." she argued.

"That doesn't mean I listened." Tony said. Pepper groaned and finished making Tony's omelette. She served it on a plate and gave it to Tony. Clint had already made 5 pancakes. He brought them over to me, kissing me on the cheek as he did, and I couldn't help but go slightly red.

"Black Widow blushing. I never thought the day would come." Tony jested, taking a bite of his omelette.

"I'm not." I said and shoved a piece of pancake forcefully into my mouth.

"Anyway," Bruce started before we could get into an argument about blushing. "what's the plan from now on? Just laze around here every day?"

"I thought of a solution to our problems that needs a bit of work. Science bros." Stark commented smiling.

"Alright, alright. What about everyone else then?"

"Well, Fury informed me that Chill is teaching Capsicle how to be normal." Those words made Maria and Steve go a bit red as they awkwardly ate their toast. "Blackhawk are doing whatever the hell they normally do. Pepper is being sexy as always." he said, winking at Pepper. "Then after that, who knows. Maybe we'll just be here till we're ancient."

"Now that _is_ a scary thought." Bruce said, collecting his plate and going to wash it up in the sink.

"Scarier than the Hulk?"

"Not quite." he said, smiling, and then returned to cleaning his dish. Clint came and sat down next to me with a bunch of pancakes and then Pepper joined us with an omelette that she had made.

"What is this object of mystery?" Thor asked pressing down on the toaster lever, angrily and quickly, not succeeding in pushing down the toast.

"It's a toaster." Pepper said, walking over to the item and pressing it down easily. "Some things don't need as much force Thor." she said, making him chuckle, and returned to her seat.

"Mister Widow, I need to do some tests on you by the way. Make sure the demi-god is well and truly gone." Stark said to Clint.

"Uh, if I have to then fine. Wait...what do they involve?" Clint said suspicious.

"Just blood tests, eye scans. Stuff like that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna sell you're kidney's or anything. Maybe if you complain to much-"

"Hurt him and I'll slit your throat." I warned.

"Yeah right?"

"I love how you think I'm joking." I chuckled, bringing up a knife and twirling it in between my fingers whilst eating a forkful of pancake.

"No kidneys. Got it." Stark said wide-eyed. This is when I first noticed Maria looking upset. She had bags around her eyes and I could see faint tears tracks that have faded into her check. I noticed that some of her eye make-up was also smudged.

"Maria, are you alright?" I asked. She looked at me, slightly hesitant, like she was taken back at the question.

"Fine. Thanks." she said, fake-smiled and then ran off to her guest room, leaving her mug on the table as she did.

"Do you think she's okay?" Steve asked, looking very concerned.

"Don't worry about it Capsicle. She's probably just being a woman. Emotional." Stark said, earning a hit from Pepper and a death glare from me.

 **2 hours later**

I was waiting for Stark to finish his stupid tests. Clint's eyes were currently being scanned for traces of the blue energy from Loki's scepter. He briefly look up at me smiling, but Stark said "Eyes in the scanner, Barton."

He rolled his eyes, but focused his eyes in the scanner. Once the eye scan was complete, I went over to him whilst Stark was finishing his tests. I kissed his cheek and he smiled. "What did I do to deserve you huh?" he asked.

"I really don't know. You're a pain in the ass sometimes." I said smiling. I put my palms on the side of his face and kissed him, only to be pulled back very quickly by Stark.

"Sorry, I forgot one more test." Stark said, quickly pulling Clint into the glass box at the side of the room.

"Would you hurry up Stark?" he said and the glass doors shut. Stark typed quickly on the keypad and sealed the glass. The screen read 'DEADLOCK SEAL.'

"Tony, what do you think you're doing?"

"I lied. It's Loki. There's still teserract energy inside of him." he explained quickly, looking very worried. That's very unlike Stark. The rare occasion that I have ever seen him this flustered was with Pepper. I turned to Clint who was in the glass. He looked just as scared as I was and his eyes aren't blue.

"Stark, you have obviously got it wrong, because he looks fine to me."

"There may be no freaky blue mist in his eyes, but there are remnants of the energy in his body."

"No, this isn't right. Clint's back with me. The kiss. Everything. It's true. Stop pissing about Tony." I couldn't take my eyes off Clint. He was shaking. What the hell is going on? He has emotions. He doesn't look like he's being controlled by Loki.

"You can see his eyes are clear dickhead now OPEN THE FRICKIN' DOOR!" I screamed.

"I can't. It's a deadlock seal Romanoff. Are you blind as well as stupid?"

"OPEN. THE. DOOR." I screamed, banging against the glass. Clint was on the other side hitting the glass also.

"Tony let me out now!" he said, looking confused. "Why are you keeping me in here?"

Suddenly, the lift opened and everyone else came in. "What's the situation?" Steve asked.

"Clint still has Loki's magic in him."

"I thought you were joking." Bruce said, going to look at the computer screens. I went back to looking at Clint and placed my hand against the glass. He looked into my eyes and placed his hand against it as well, so ours were in alignment.

"Romanoff still thinks he is." Stark said. I sharply turned around.

"He is Clint. He is not Loki. That monster is not back inside of him." I snapped and then returned to looking at Clint. "Do you feel any different?"

He shook his head. "No. I thought that I shook him off remember. When we were in the med room."

"I know. I was there remember. You're not him. Please let him go Stark." I said, hitting the door with my palm slightly.

"Romanoff, we can't let him out yet." Banner added.

"What? You're siding with Tony?" I said.

"For the minute, yes. You need to see this." he said, gesturing to the monitors. We all crowded around them and looked at the readings. "The blue energy is evident around his heart." The scan showed the rest of his body normal and then his heart blue, instead of red. "His eye scan immediately showed signs of Loki's energy. Even though you can't see them on the surface, they are still there."

"N...no...this can't...this can't be right." I said, looking back to Clint. He looked normal

"I'm sorry Natasha, but it is. The evidence is here." Steve said, pointing at the screens.

"I shall go speak to my brother." Thor said.

"Adopted brother and yes, one of us needs to." Stark commented.

"STOP IT!" I shouted. "Please." I whispered. "It's Clint. It can't be him. Not after all he said to me."

There was silence between them until Maria spoke up. "We should speak to Loki." She looked as if she had tears in her eyes.

"Agreed." Steve said and left to exit. "Natasha, we should all go to speak to him."

"No, I'm not leaving Clint." I argued, still keeping my eyes concentrated on Clint.

"Roman-"

"No, I'm not leaving him."

"Tasha." Clint said quietly. "You should go." he said with a sad smile.

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you here." I said, my hand pressing even harder against the glass, not that it would make much difference.

"It's fine. Go. It's not like I'm going anywhere." he said, chuckling slightly.

"Stark, can I go in for a second please?" I asked.

"It's not-"

"I don't care if it's not safe. You open that door now."

Stark sighed and then typed in the number quickly. "Two minutes."

"Thank you." The doors opened and I ran towards him. I threw my arms around him and whispered "I'll figure out what's going on."

"But it'll be too late." _What_?

I felt a sharp pain in my lower stomach and looked down to see a knife penetrating my stomach. "Clint?" I whispered, but he just smiled as I fell to my knees. Then he looked like he had a fit and fell unconscious on the floor too. What just happened? I held my stomach and felt blood trickle through my fingers. I saw some figures come over to me, but they looked blurry. I was feeling extremely faint and before I hit the floor, I felt someone catch me and my vision went black, my last memory being Clint stabbing me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Maria POV**

"Shit." Tony exclaimed as he picked up an unconscious Clint and carried him over to the medical bed. What had happened was before Clint could do any more of his damage, I shot a taser at him.

"Nice thinking, Hill." Steve said. He smiled at me briefly and then turned back to Barton, looking worried about him. Since this morning, when Fury contacted me, I have been told I am having the role of educating Steve on day-to-day life. Not exactly the worst job in the world. However, he is very distracting.

"Thanks." I said, quietly, a bit embarrassed, and pushed a loose strand of my hair behind my ear.

"What we going to do now?" Banner asked.

"We'll put Clint back in the glass box and make sure that Natasha has the right medical recovery." Steve commanded. "Keep both of them under observation."

"Yes, Cap." Tony said, saluting him and then moving Natasha into the lift to be transferred.

I can't believe one of my closest friends is hurt because of Loki. What a little shit head. He destroyed everything. He's destroyed my entire life. Steve obviously observed my anger, because he placed his hand on my shoulder. "Hill?" he asked, but I was too angry to even respond back to him, apart from shrugging off his shoulder and running towards the door. I heard Steve shout my name behind me, but I didn't listen. I got to Loki's floor, opened the door and locked it behind me. I saw the door vibrate from Rogers pushing against it.

"OPEN THIS DOOR MARIA!" he shouted, so passionate, but I ignored him.

I looked over to the other side of the room where Loki was lying on his bed.

"JARVIS, put Loki in a force-field before I enter. Take it off when I'm in there." JARVIS complied and opened the door to the cell whilst Loki was in a blue shield of light around him. The door slid shut and the force-field went.

"What are you doing here?" Loki asked, sitting up on his bed.

"You know why I'm here." I tried to keep cool, but anger bled through my words.

"Only women have come to interrogate me. Thank goodness they are beautiful." he said with a sly smirk. Sick bastard.

"What have you done to Barton?" I asked, trying to contain my anger.

He smirked. "I haven't done anything."

"Don't lie. You've done everything to hurt these people." They're dead. They're all freakin' dead, because of him.

"What Barton or are you talking about your own pathetic family?" he said fiercely. _That's it._

I charged at Loki, throwing continuous punches that hit him in the face. He tried to avoid them, but without his magic he was just to slow against my high training. I did a drop-kick and he fell onto the floor, holding his face from the pain. I didn't even notice that Steve came into the room until I heard him shout "JARVIS, force-field around Loki." Steve entered the cell and held my arms, stopping me from punching him again.

"Don't you dare call them pathetic." I screamed, half crying as Steve pulled me away from him. Loki was still lying on the floor, but he was smirking at us. How dare he insult them? How dare he? I can't believe him. I want to rip his head off. I struggled against Steve's grip, but it was too strong.

He pulled me out of the cell, Loki still smirking at us. "Blacken Loki's cell, JARVIS." Steve said.

"Of course, Mr. Rogers." JARVIS replied, following his orders. Steve's grip on me loosened as calmed down slightly. I felt like I couldn't breath. The air was being sucked out of my lungs and I felt really faint. I fell against Steve and gasped for air. My tears were rushing down my face and landing on his chest. We slowly sank down to the ground until I was my head was lying on his lap. "Maria. Just breathe slowly okay."

"They're...they're gone..." I managed to say. "My...families...dead..."

"The battle?" he asked and I nodded. "Just try and breathe okay. Just breathe."

I tried to breathe normally, but I couldn't calm down. My heart rate was through the roof and Roger's hot fingertips against my body were not helping me to remain calm. I looked up into his eyes and they were deep with concern. He was so beautiful. His complexion seemed to make me calmer. He stroked the side of my head in an attempt to make me relax, which also worked.

"That's it. Just focus." he said, looking a bit curious about how I was becoming so calm. "Breathe." I took a couple of deep breaths and relaxed. I closed my eyes, his hands still threading through my hair, and sighed. "You feeling better now?"

"Yeah." I said and he got up first, before helping me to my feet also. "Feeling much better than before."

"I'm sorry for your loss." he said sorrowfully, withdrawing his hand from mine.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. This shouldn't have happened to you."

"It could've happened to anyone. Lots of other people died too." I argued.

"Yeah, but you didn't deserve it. Not you." he said, passionately.

I closed my eyes, hung my head slightly, and argued "You have no idea what I'm like Rogers." It's true. He doesn't know my past.

"Well I'd like to." he said smiling.

I looked up at him, into his cool blue eyes, and replied "I really don't think you do. I can knock you out in 23 different ways with my little finger."

"I want to get to know you. Not the knocking me bit." he said and I laughed slightly.

"For an old man, you're pretty funny." I said, walking out of the room with him.

"Thanks." he said shyly, red crawling onto his cheeks.

We arrived at the medical bay and went straight to Natasha's bed. "Is she okay?" I asked.

"We'll be running some more tests on her and giving her more blood to make up for the amount that she lost." Banner explained. "The stab wound will scar over time, but for the minute we are keeping it sterile and bandaging it. We're doing all we can."

"Thanks Doc." I said. "I appreciate it."

"Believe me, we all do." Steve added.

"I must return to Asgard to seek answer, my friends. I shall return, but only when those answers have been found. I thank you, Man of Iron, for your kind hospitality. Goodbye." Thor said and left the room with a nod. A couple of minutes later, the tower shook slightly, signalling that Thor had left the building.

"Is Clint back awake yet?" Pepper asked.

"No, he's still asleep. He's moving lots in his sleep though. Nightmares or Loki's mind control screwing up his brain." Stark replied.

"TONY!" Pepper warned and slapped his arm. "Natasha may be asleep, but she will do more than just kick you in the nuts if she knows that you just said that."

"Oh, I'm scared." Tony said sarcastically, doing jazz hands. "She's an assassin for Christ sake. You know what they're like. Emotionless and lonely."

I got up out of my seat, pushing the chair back forcefully. I was fed up with this. I can't sit hear and listen to them. I stormed off to my elevator, leaving the others in the med bay. The lift closed and Rogers tried to catch it before the doors shut, but it was too late. I was already ascending in the lift and tears were coming down my face. I arrived at the living room floor and practically stormed out, but Steve was already there waiting for me.

"Stupid super soldier serum." I said and pushed passed him, wiping the tear streaks off my face.

"What's wrong, because this doesn't seem to be just about what's happened to Natasha and Clint."

"It's nothing." I said, continuing to walk towards the bedrooms area of the tower.

"Please tell me." he pleaded and I stopped walking. I turned around to face him.

"Why?"

"Because...I want to know what's wrong so I can try and fix it."

"You can't fix me Rogers. You can't fix the broken." I said without thinking.

"What do you mean broken?" he asked.

I shut my eyes and whispered "Romanoff and Barton aren't the only assassins in the building you know."

I could feel tears tearing through the small gaps of my eyelids and bleeding down my face. I felt arms wrap around me and I buried my face into his chest. For some reason I found much comfort in him, even though we have only spoken a couple of times. Maybe it's the fact that he is the leader. On the other hand, I have never been attracted to Fury. God, no. Steve was different to the other people I've dated. His old-fashioned nature made him even more attractive.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Hugging me. Why?"

"Because you were upset. You haven't done anything wrong." he explained, pulling me back and stroking my shoulders. "Have you done anything wrong?"

"I've killed people."

"So have I Maria. We all have." I didn't have an argument for that. It was true. We were all killers and carried our own ghosts. Some deaths were accidental and some for good reason. All deaths though. "Don't think about what you were if it hurts you. Think about what you are now." his soft voice whispered.

I nodded. "Okay."

"Gym?" he asked me. _How does he know just what I need?_

"Thought you'd never ask." I replied smiling and went to get changed.

 **4 hours later**

"What's the point if I'm going to keep losing?" I asked, his hands pinning down my arms on the floor.

"One day you might beat me, you never know." he replied, smiling. I laughed and he brought me up to a standing position.

"Thanks." I replied and we went towards the changing rooms. It was a group changing room, so me and Rogers just faced away from each other as we got changed.

"I don't understand how Clint's eyes aren't blue if he's being taken over." he argued, as I pulled off my shirt, and I turned around naturally, without even thinking. I saw Roger in only boxers pulling on some trousers. The muscles in his back were moving attractively as he pulled on his trousers. "Maria?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, but not looking at me. "I um...I..." I mumbled and he looked straight at me. I flickered my head back around and said "S-sorry, I uh...I didn't mean to."

"No, it's...it's fine." I heard him say.

"Loki may have developed his powers, so his subjects eyes don't have to go blue." I said, doing up my trousers.

"I don't see how when Loki has been under observation the entire time."

"He wouldn't work with anyone else would he? He works alone." I replied, tying up my shoe laces. I still needed to put my shirt on though.

"There wasn't anyone else at the battle. There was no one else he was fighting with." _We just need Natasha back._

"We need to talk with the others about what we are going to do." I said, trying to locate my shirt.

I continued facing the gym locker. "You wearing clothes yet?" I asked, reaching for my shirt.

"I...I"

"What?" I asked and put my shirt on.

"Yeah, yeah I am." he replied and I turned around to see him already facing me. _Was he already looking at me?_

"Well...lets go then." I replied, smiling, and picked up my gym bag. We walked out together and I couldn't stop thinking about how attractive Steve was. Just beautiful. His gorgeously sculpted face and burning blue eyes. We went to the conference room to speak with the others about what we're going to do, before Natasha entered.


	5. Chapter 5

**tysongirl123 - Thank you for the wonderful review. I would private message you a thank you, but you haven't allowed it on your account.**

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Thank you so much for the reviews guys. I really appreciate them and keep them coming. If you have any story ideas that you want me to make your reality then please message me I will ALWAYS write your story. Maybe even over night :)

 **Previously**

 **"I know. I know." he said. "But it'll be too late." What?**

 **I felt a sharp pain in my lower stomach and looked down to see a knife penetrating my stomach. "Clint?" I whispered, but he just smiled as I fell to my knees. Then he looked like he had a fit and fell unconscious on the floor too. What just happened?**

 **I held my stomach and felt blood trickle through my fingers. I saw some figures come over to me, but they looked blurry. I was feeling extremely faint and before I hit the floor, I felt someone catch me and my vision went black, my last memory being Clint stabbing me.**

I woke up to the sound of beeping and harsh light stabbing my eyes, causing me to blink several times before I adjusted to the light. I looked to my left and saw Pepper sitting there reading a magazine.

"Hi." I said, my voice sounding weaker the usual. She snapped her head up and placed her magazine on the side table.

"Hey, you feeling okay?" she asked.

"Where's Clint?" I asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

She winced, which made me even more curious of his whereabouts. "Where is Barton?"

"He's...he is still under Loki's power. He's in the glass box in Stark's lab. Double deadlock he said. We can't risk him getting out." she said, sorrowfully.

"So I didn't dream that? The energy that Loki uses is still inside him?" I asked. _Oh God._

"I'm sorry Natasha." she whispered.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"We've been discussing that. Meeting about to happen next door. I would recommend you stay here, but you wouldn't listen to me anyway." she said, helping me remove the tubes attached to my body and get me out of the bed.

I got dressed as quickly as I could without hurting myself and went straight to the conference room. "So what's happened so far?"

"We've haven't managed to get Loki's energy out of Clint. Knocking him out didn't work. Loki has improved his powers." Steve explained.

"Where is he? I'm gonna kill him." I said angrily, trying to storm out of the room, but Rogers stopped me.

"He's already been dealt with."

"By whom?"

Steve looked at the others who were all looking at Maria. She rolled her eyes and went over to the computers, where she brought up some footage of Loki's cell. He was lying on his bed looking bored.

"Before this happened, I tased Clint. That's why he didn't kill you." she said.

"Thank you. I owe you." I said. Another person I'm in debt to. Me and Maria were quite close, but I still owed her.

"It was nothing." she replied, shaking her head, and played the video.

 _Maria came in at the side of the room and said "JARVIS, put Loki in a force-field before I enter." JARVIS complied and opened the door to the cell whilst Loki was in a blue shield of light around him. The door slid shut and the force-field went._

 _"What are you doing here?" Loki asked, sitting up on his bed._

 _"You know why I'm here."_

 _"Only women have come to interrogate me. Thank goodness they are beautiful." he said with a sly smirk._

 _"What have you done to Barton?" she asked, trying to contain her anger._ She had learnt well. Maria and Clint were close friends, but obviously not as close as me and him.

 _He smirked. "I haven't done anything."_

 _"Don't lie. You've done everything to hurt these people."_

 _"What Barton or are you talking about your own pathetic family?" he said fiercely._

 _Maria charged at Loki, throwing continuous punches that hit him in the face. He tried to avoid them, but without his magic he was just to slow against Maria's high training. She did a drop-kick and he fell onto the floor, holding his face._

 _Steve came into the room. "JARVIS, force-field around Loki." he shouted. Steve entered the cell and stopped Maria from punching him again. "Don't you dare call them pathetic." she screamed, half crying as Steve pulled her away from him. Loki was still lying on the floor, but he was smirking at us._

 _They left and Steve said "Blacken Loki's cell, JARVIS."_

 _"Of course, Mr. Rogers." JARVIS said, following his orders._

 _Steve held Maria as she cried into his chest._

The film stopped and I saw Cap looking slightly embarrassed. Maria was looking down at the table blankly.

"What happened?"

"My...my whole family was killed in the invasion. I have no one. My flat's been demolished, so I'm basically living on the helicarrier." she said, forcing emotion to stay within her throat.

"I'm so sorry." I said. I really was sorry. Maria just had S.H.I.L.E.D now. That was is apart from us. No family. That's like me not having Barton...who I still don't have. Steve placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and stroked her. It looks like something is going on there.

"Well, why don't you stay here?" Pepper suggested.

"No I can't."

"Sure you can. I insist."

"Are...are you sure? I don't want to intrude on anything. I mean, it's called the Avengers Tower, but I'm not a superhero."

"I'm not a superhero either." Pepper argued.

"Yeah, but you're my superhero." Stark said and kissed her lips softly. "It's fine with me by the way, even though it is my Tower and all."

"Tony what did we say about sharing?" Pepper asked and before Tony could answer I interrupted.

"Can we please get back to Clint?"

"Yeah. If we have to." Tony said, looking disappointed that Pepper had gone.

"So, where is he?"

"He's in medical." Steve said, hand still on Maria's shoulder. "He's going through evaluation."

"Who's checking him?"

"Banner." Steve said.

"Are. You. Kidding." I said, my anger rising with every symbol. "Do you not remember what happened last time? Two words. Puny. God. I don't want that happening to Clint." I said and stormed towards the lift. The others followed quickly and we went down to medical.

The doors opened and I ran out expecting to see a bomb site, a green monster and Clint, crushed into the floor. But is was entirely the opposite. The place was as clean as I had ever seen it, Bruce was fine and Clint was screaming and banging against the door, even though no sound came through.

"Banner, you okay? What's going on?" I asked wearily.

"Oh, right. Yeah. We're constantly running scans on Clint to see when he changes, but for now he just keeps banging on the glass and screaming." he said, putting on his glasses and observing the readings. "Everything's the same. But I don't understand. Loki's energies are blocked and he's five floor down. How is this happening?"

"Wait a second. Before that, why can't I hear him screaming?" I asked, curious to the lack of sound.

Banner picked up a remote control and pressed a button.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BANNER! I'M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU! I'M GOING TO GET BETTY AND STRANGLE HER TO-" Before Clint could finish he pressed the mute button once more.

"It's been going on for hours." he said, looking bored. "Thank goodness for frequency blocking technology. Even the vibrations from his knocking can't come through. It's fascinating."

"Yes, it's all brilliant. Apart from the fact that he still isn't Clint." I said angrily.

"There's nothing we can do apart from one and you're not going to like it." he said.

"What is it?"

"We have to kill Loki."

"I'll do it." Maria said, her face flinching with anger, as she pulled he gun out of its holster. Steve grabbed her arm and all the tension that was rising within her seemed to just stop. Steve delicately took the gun out of her hand and placed it on the table, his other hand working it's way down her wrist.

"What other way is there Banner?" Steve asked, now holding hands with Maria.

"Thor has gone back to Asgard to speak to his mother about enchantments, but apart from that there is nothing else we can do, but sit here and wait."

"Okay, Thor will figure something out. He has to." I said to myself. "He has to or I'm killing Loki..."

 **Please review x**


	6. Chapter 6

It had been three days. Three frickin' days since the end of the battle. Well the battle of New York anyway. Loki was still trapped in Clint's head and I almost felt like giving up. Thor hadn't returned and I was starting to feel like there was going to be no end without his death.

I was in Maria's room trying to persuade her of the complete opposite. "I know what you're thinking. We can't kill him." I argued to Maria, who looked like she hadn't slept in a month.

"But how else are we going to save Clint? How else are we going to be free?"

"Maria, you need to sleep okay. I'll go and get Steve."

"No, he can't see me like this." she said, desperately, but I knew it was for her own good.

"Okay." I lied and left the room. I saw Steve in the living room. "Steve," I called. "I need you to come right now."

"She doesn't want to see me. She locked me out of her room earlier, sending me a very clear message that my presence is not wanted there." He didn't say that spitefully, more as a fact.

"No, you really need to come now." His face turned to worry and I went to Maria's room, Steve following at my tail.

I knocked on the door and said "Maria, I'm coming in. Okay?"

"Okay." she said quietly. I opened the door and she was where I left her, in a ball leaning against the glass window. "What do you want now?"

"To see you." Steve said, which made her snap her head around.

"Get out. I don't want you to see me like this." she said, directing her head away from him, back at the city.

"Tread with caution Captain." I warned before he nodded and softly stepped over to her, placing a hand on her back.

After a while of talking, she ended up being carried to bed by Rogers in her tired state. I decided to leave him to comfort her and try and force her to sleep.

A couple of hours later, Steve came into the living room, heading for the kitchen, but passed me reading a book, on the way.

"How did it go?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's asleep." he smiled with relief and got a glass of water.

"Miss Hill has woken up, Sir. She did once you left the room, Mr Rogers." JARVIS said and Steve quickly hurried back to the room, glass in hand. She really couldn't live, or sleep, without him.

After another hour, Maria and Steve came out of the room. Maria looked much healthier and the bags under her eyes were gone. I could see she was still upset that she lost her true family, but she had definitely improved. "You're looking better." I said, smiling.

"I'm _feeling_ better." she replied.

"Have you spoken to Stark yet?" Steve asked.

"No, I was thinking about going to see him actually."

"Great." he replied and we went downstairs to the lab. Clint was still in his glass cell, but on a different lab level. The lift doors opened and Stark, Banner and Pepper were standing there.

"You guys got any ideas about how to stop it yet?"

"Thor hasn't come back and we haven't found any kind of cure. No any trace of the energy has been found outside of the tower." Banner explained.

"What are we going to do?" He has to come back. He has to. I don't know whether what he was saying or doing was real or not, but I sure as hell know that I want to see him again.

"I really have no idea. We'll keep working on it though." he assured me.

"Okay." I said quietly. Hang on..."Wait..."

"What is it?" Pepper asked.

"Did you say no trace of the energy has been found OUTSIDE of the tower." Suddenly, the alarms sounded, causing me to squint. "What the hell is that?"

Stark typed very quickly on his computer. "Something's happening that is causing the energy to maximize. Loki and Clint are looking mysteriously calm by the sudden alarms." He looked up at us, still typing. "And that _is_ alarming."

"This isn't funny Stark. What's going on?"

"There's been a huge surge in energy." His eyebrows furrowed. "There's someone in Loki's cell. She's breaking him out." Stark said, now looking alarmed.

"She's been here the whole time." Steve said, sounding annoyed.

"Banner try and contact Thor. Maria and me will go and stop Loki and the visitor. Natasha and Tony, go and defend Clint. If anyone comes near him, take them down. Move it." Steve ordered and we quickly went to our different locations, whilst Banner was left in the science floor.

Stark kissed Pepper and said "Stay here. Do not leave." He really did care for her. He commanded his suit and got dressed on the way up. Me and Tony took the stairs, as Maria and Steve needed to get to Loki's cell, which was further away. We rushed into the room and Clint's cell door was open, the cell being empty.

"Shit." the voice of Iron Man said. "Where the hell did he go?"

"I don't know." I said and took one step forward, only to be knocked off my feet. Stark brought up his hand to fire, but was shot in a corner of his reactor, sending him down to the ground. He started going incredibly pale and had trouble breathing. "STARK!" I shouted and scrambled towards him, but I was pulled back by something.

I span round to see Clint, eyes still normal, holding a knife. "Clint, listen to me. This isn't you. It's Loki."

"This is how we're meant to be. How we will all be. Servants of Loki." he said smiling and tried to cut me with the knife. I back-flipped and he ran towards me, knife in my direction. I quickly ducked and then grabbed his arm, stopping him from stabbing me. I pulled it round, causing him to shout out and drop the knife.

He kicked my shin and I fell down, reaching to grab the knife. He kicked me down and put his knee against my back, forcing me into the ground. His hand kept both of my arms pinned to the floor, above my head, and his other leg held down my legs. He grabbed the knife. "Say goodbye, Widow." he whispered and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him hold up his knife.

"I love you Clint." I whispered, shutting my eyes and preparing for my death. Suddenly, there was the sound of blasting energy and Clint fell off me. I got up quickly and looked around. Stark slowly lowered his hand and then closed his eyes, becoming unconscious.

"TONY!" I screamed, rushing over to check him.

 **Maria's POV**

Me and Steve ran into the elevator and went all the way down to Loki's floor.

"What are we going to do? How are we going to defeat him?" I asked, breathing heavily and stressing.

"Everything's going to be fine." he reassured me and put his palm against the side of my face. He quickly kissed my cheek and pulled his hand away.

"Steve?" I asked, looking up at him. He was about to speak, but the door opened revealing Loki and a woman standing in the middle of the room. The woman smiled and Loki ordered "Lorelei, speak to him."

"You serve me now." she said and beckoned Steve towards him. She put her hand around his neck and pulled him towards her, so she was passionately kissing him.

"Stop it!" I said firmly, but she kept kissing him. I stormed forward, but got knocked back by Loki.

He smiled darkly. "I see how you care for the stupid super soldier. How you look at him. She'll prevent that." he said in his low voice, gesturing to Lorelei.

"This isn't about Rogers. This is about you. And me." I said deeply.

"Your deadly past will always be carried with you. No matter how hard you try to remove it." he said, his words piercing my heart.

"Shut up and die already." I said and threw my blade, which he easily swerved out of the way of. I continued throwing knives until I reached him and attempted to punch him in the face, but failing because he disappeared. I forgot that his magic remained with him when he was outside the glass box.

"Come on, Loki. Face me." I shouted, trying to ignore the fact that Rogers now had Lorelei on his waist, snogging his face off. I ignore the feeling of jealousy brewing in my heart. I was pushed forward by something and I fell. I turned around and Loki pinned me to the floor. He put the sharp knife blade against my neck and said "I'm going to enjoy this, Agent Chill. How does it feel to have your last moments filled with fear?"

 _He thought I was scared of dying?_ "I'm not afraid of dying and I'm not afraid of you. I'll be with them. My parents."

"So be it." he said, raising the knife ready to strike, but before he could slice my skin, he was pushed out the way by something. I looked over and saw Loki who appeared to be unconscious on the floor, a hammer on his chest, pinning him to the floor. I looked over in the other direction and saw Thor standing there in his full uniform.

My attention went straight to Lorelei who was still kissing Rogers. She pulled back and told Rogers "Kill her."

Steve looked directly at me and started charging towards me, but before he could strike, Thor had summoned his hammer back and threw it at Lorelei. She screamed as it knocked her off her feet and her head hit the floor. Steve squinted and rubbed his head with his heads.

"Uh, what just happened?" he asked groggily, like he had just woken up.

"You kissed her and then some." I snapped at him, jealous, and then ran towards Lorelei. I checked her pulse. "She's dead, Thor." But he didn't respond. "Thor?" I asked again. I turned round and saw Thor kneeling down next to his brother.

"Loki is dead." Thor stated, emotion bleeding through his words and caught on his expression.

"Thor." I said, but I didn't know what else to say. I had lost my family. My mother, my father, my brother. Everyone. I could sympathize with him, but it wouldn't make any difference.

"Mr. Stark has been seriously injured." JARVIS' voice said. Even though he was an A.I., he rushed his words, almost as if he had emotions. How can a computer care about someone? Even Stark? On the way up to the living room floor, I looked over at Rogers, who was wiping his lips clean. He wasn't angry, he was almost confused.

We arrived and saw Natasha kneeling beside Tony, who was looking incredibly pale.


	7. Chapter 7

**This is the last chapter guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows. You have been brilliant! Hope you like this emotional finale :P**

 **Natasha POV**

Rogers helped carry Stark into the lift and Thor carried Clint. We made our way down to the medical floor and carried them over to the medical beds.

"TONY! OH MY GOD!" Pepper screamed and ran over checking him.

"Pepper, I need you to step back so I can operate." Banner said, frantically gathering his supplies.

"TONY!" she screamed, tears pouring from her eyes, touching his face.

"I need someone to restrain her please." he asked and Steve did so.

"NO! PLEASE!" Pepper screamed, but Steve held her strongly back. Banner quickly unscrewed the arc reactor in his chest and grabbed the new one, shoving it into the slot.

"Wake up Clint." I said quietly, shaking Clint's collar. Then I noticed he was bleeding. Tony shot him earlier with his blaster ray. "Banner," I warned, lifting up his shirt to look at the wound. He had some of his skin singed and it was bleeding. Badly. "I need some help over here." I said, grabbing some cloth and pressing it hard onto the wound.

I heard Stark's pulse rate return to normal on the monitor and Banner came over. I briefly noticed the look of relief on Pepper's face as Steve released her and she ran over to him. I turned my attention back to Clint. "What do we do Banner?"

"We need to create tissue using a machine I've been working on. It's his only hope. Otherwise..." He didn't finish that sentence.

"Otherwise what?" I asked desperately, but he briefly looked up at me sadly and then focused back to Clint. He grabbed a machine that looked like some sort of x-ray scanned. I noticed the red ray lines trace of the area that was missing and then his tissues began rejoining themselves along with his skin.

"This is incredible." I said.

"Me and Tony have been working on it for a while." he commented as Clint's body started filling up.

 **Maria POV**

I can't believe she kissed him. I know it was to make sure that he was distracted so he didn't kill Loki, but she kissed him. She kissed Steve. What a prick!

"They'll be okay." Steve said, placing his hand on my right shoulder.

"I know, I know. I just can't believe that this has happened." I said, burying my head in my hands and sitting on a chair.

"Loki or Clint being taken over." _Neither. You being taken over._ I thought in my mind.

"All of us being manipulated." I looked up at him. "You. I knew her back-story. She's been on this planet before. She must have escaped and I didn't do anything to stop her from harming you."

"There was nothing I could've done anyway. Loki was dealt with by Thor." he said glancing over to him. He was deep in thought, gazing out at the city, probably about his brother. He trusted Loki to a certain extent I think. He trusted him and Loki betrayed that trust. That bond between siblings.

"But you could've been up there to stop what happened to Stark. I just let her take you over and compromise you." I shook my head and then dug it further into my palms. Instead of walking away, which is what I would've expected any other person to do, he touched my hands and pulled them down from my face.

"This was not your fault." he said, trying to get through to me. "Whatever happened to me couldn't have been changed by anything. She was too powerful and I was too weak."

"You're anything, but weak Steve. That is entirely the wrong word to describe you, Steve."

"Then what is?" he asked, sounding a bit hopeless. I squeezed his hands a bit tighter and replied "Strong, passionate, gorgeous." My words made him blush slightly.

"I don't think so." he said embarrassed.

"No, it's true. You're the hottest guy I've ever met, but that isn't important. Not to me anyway. It's not your looks, it's your heart. And that is the most beautiful thing of all about you. Your heart." I said, like I was admitting all my little secrets. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but I couldn't tell whether it was a good weight or not, because Steve hadn't said anything for about two minutes.

"Steve? I'm sorry." I said, now completely regretting everything that I said. "I'll just..." I said, but left my words hanging as I got off my chair and went to leave, but he followed, grabbed my hand and span me around.

He quickly pulled my towards him and smashed his lips against mine. It felt like such a good sensation after these past couple of days. We had been training together and talking all the time and now he was kissing me. Captain America was kissing me. _React to this you idiot!_

I kissed him back passionately and wrapped my arms around his neck. His lips tasted sweet and I couldn't get enough, but he pulled his head away. "What?" I asked confused as to why he pulled back.

"I...I just wanted to say...you're beautiful." he said, stroking the side of my cheek. I smiled and he smiled back at me, before we kissed once more. We kissed for a couple of minutes, our tongues wrapping round each others, but we were interrupted by a small innocent cough on our right. We pulled apart and saw everyone, well everyone who was awake at least, there, arms crossed, smiling at us.

"You want any lunch?" Pepper asked, eyebrows raised. "Or are you already filled up?" I rolled my eyes.

"What are you having?" I asked.

"Well, kissing wasn't on the menu, but that seems to have changed."

"Yes," I said and looked up at Cap, smiling. "things do seem to have changed." He smiled and gave my lips a quick peck, before we talked as a team again.

"Banner, Nat and me will stay here. I'm expecting that to be the case?" Pepper asked looking at them.

"I need to keep an eye on their medical stability."

"I'm not moving." Natasha said firmly, holding Clint's hand, sitting on a chair next to his bed. She was definitely staying by his side.

"Thor?" I asked, but he didn't respond. "Thor?" I asked again and he turned around.

"Yes, Lady Hill?"

"Are you having lunch with us?"

"No thank you. I must tend to my brot..." he stopped himself. "Loki and Lorelei. I must take them back to Asgard for burial. I wish you well and will return soon." he said and went into the elevator.

"I hope he is okay." I said and held hands with Steve.

"We will find a way to visit him somehow." Steve said.

"Me and Tony have been working on it. We are quite close to finding an answer." Banner said, checking on Clint's wounds.

"Great." I replied and then turned to Steve.

"Miss Hill, will you accompany me to lunch?" Steve asked.

"Are you asking me out on a date Mr. Rogers?" I asked, smiling.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Well, I will be honoured to join you." I replied and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you guys later." I said to the others and we went to the living room for lunch. How did this even happen? I'm dating Captain America. I can't wait to tell Coulson about this.

 **Natasha POV**

"Come on Clint. Wake up. Please." I said, stroking the sides of his face. "Banner, how long until he wakes up?" I asked. The machine had already filled in the rest of his stomach, so now we were just waiting for him to awaken.

"I don't know. His vital signs are fine. He should wake up soon." he replied and then went over to arrange some medicine for him. I saw Tony, out of the corner of my eye, try to sit up, but fail and fall back down on the bed. _Oh my God, he's awake._

"Pepper!" he shouted, his eyes darting around frantically trying to find her. _Cute._ Pepper's head turned from the skyline to him, a smile shining on her face.

"TONY!" she screamed and ran over to him. "Oh my God." she said and then kissed him madly. She pulled him up to a sitting position, still kissing him, and jumped onto his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist.

She pulled back and rested her head against his. "Not the worst way to wake up." he said smiling.

"God, don't you ever do that again. Understand me?" she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey." he said, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Don't cry. I promise I won't." he whispered and kissed her once more. "Well technically it wasn't my fault, it was Legolas." Pepper shook her head, smiled, and kissed him again.

I wish I have what they have. If it was with anyone, it would be with Clint. He's always been there for me, even in the dark times. He had always understood me, even though I have so much red in my ledger. I told him I loved him, but he was under Loki's power. He wouldn't have heard me. He won't remember anything from that.

I looked back at Clint. "I don't understand." I said out-loud. "Lorelei was working for Loki. She's the one who hypnotised Clint with Loki's powers to have the same effect. Why would Clint try and throw himself off the building if he was under Lorelei's control? It doesn't make any sense."

"Oh...I get it now." Stark said and I snapped my head round. Pepper was still wrapped around his waist.

"WHAT?" I said desperately.

"Patience Widow." he said, but I just got my knife and twirled it in my fingers. "Okay, okay!" he said holding up his hands. "Clint was standing on the roof and he looked straight at me before jumping. Why would he jump if he knew he was going to be saved, _unless_ he was waiting for the right opportunity to look like he wanted to kill himself just for effect. He made sure that I was there before he jumped. He knew that he was going to be saved. That was the plan. The jump would get sympathy from you and all of us and stop us suspecting anything out of the ordinary. Also, it would make you realise how much he means to you."

I looked puzzled at Stark. _It would make you realise how much he means to you._ "Why does someone so clever have to be such an idiot?" I asked, but before he could summon an arrogant answer, Clint gasped and sat up, almost hyperventilating. "CLINT!" I shouted, trying to calm him down. He saw me and relax a bit, but he then shook himself and scrambled backwards.

"Don't touch me." he said, pushing himself to the side of the bed.

"No, it's okay. Don't worry." I assured him, reaching out to touch him, but he leaned away from my touch. "Hey," I said, catching his attention. "don't be afraid. He's dead. He can't control you." He looked hesitant, but he allowed my palm to caress his face. "You're back here."

"What happened?" Pepper asked.

"This time around...I remember everything from when I was hypnotized for the second time." he said, sitting up next to me on his bed, our legs hanging over the sides. Everything? "They wanted me to remember everyone I would kill. Natasha brought me back the first time when I wouldn't remember anything. But I was injured in the battle. Jumped off a building and swung into the glass, to get me away from the chitauri."

"Idiot." I said, smiling.

"I know, I know." he replied. "Well, I was lying there and then a vision of Loki and Lorelei were there, like holograms really. Must've used their magic to create projections of themselves. Anyway, they controlled me again, but with both of them working together, their power was increased. They hid the blue energy beneath my eyes and on the outside I would appear normal. Then we returned to the Tower and Loki gave me...instructions." he said looking at me. "He asked me to...to.."

He couldn't seem to finish his sentences. "He told me I...that I needed to make it believable, so...I made sure that I saw Stark on the roof before jumping and stopped you from...doing anything apart from just...kissing me." he said looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry." he whispered.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Anyway," he said, a bit brighter. "I was told to agree with the scans to not cause suspicion and then when the scans revealed that the truth, I was told to trick you, Natasha. To...to kiss you and then...kill you." he said, his head not moving from the floor.

"That doesn't matter anymore."

"She was hiding in the Tower the whole time Natasha. They were working together. I'm meant to notice things." he argued.

"None of us could've known that he was working with someone else." I said and he didn't reply. _Go on, ask him._ "You said...you said that you remember everything the second time you were hypnotized. What do you mean...everything?"

He looked up at me. "Are you talking about when...before Stark shot me?"

I hesitated to speak, but then didn't. I looked at the ground and he said "I love you too."

I looked forward and then sideways to him. "Do you...do you really mean that? O-or are you just saying it?"

He placed his hand on my cheek and I felt butterflies race around in my stomach. He leaned in closer and I shut my eyes. He placed a delicate kiss on my lips and before he could pull back again, I pressed my lips forcefully against his. I placed my hands behind his head and pulled him closer to me. His hands went to my waist and then wrapped around my back. He pulled back and smiled at me.

"Why did we wait this long?" I asked.

"I have no idea." he replied, smiling, and then we turned to the others.

"Better?" Bruce asked him.

"Much thanks." Clint replied, smiling, his arm around me.

"Oh, Tony?" I shouted. He was passionately kissing Pepper and painfully pulled away to speak with me.

"Uh, what is it?" he groaned.

"You missed Cap and Hill kissing." I said, trying to wind him up.

"Are you serious? I've been trying to plan Captainhill's get together for months." he said.

"More like a week Tony." Pepper said.

"Anyway, are we going for lunch now? I could eat so much right now." Clint said, smiling.

"Lets go." I said, smiling back, and kissed him before we all left for the kitchen to join Maria and Steve.

 **That was the final chapter. Hope you liked it :) Please review!**


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